10 | Crossing the Pacific Ocean on a Wooden Boat

We set sail on an ocean passage from Mazatlan, Mexico to Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands. Sailing across an ocean has been a long-held dream for us, but we were not planning on extending this cruise so far from home. But, we realized that if we were serious about bluewater cruising, the time was right. We decided to take the leap and sail 2800 nautical miles across the open ocean, reaching the fabled south sea islands. Cruising the South Pacific is on the bucket list for any sailor, and completing this passage has been one of the most rewarding experiences we have ever done. We left Mazatlan on March 23rd, and arrived at Nuku Hiva on April 16th, totalling 24 days and 9 hours at sea. We covered around 2900 nautical miles, used less than half our water and a fourth of our fuel. We motored 35 hours and each of us stood 73 four hour watches. Julia is an Ingrid Ketch, designed by William Atkin and built in 1960. She is a traditional wooden boat, built of doug fir planking on oak frames. The lengt